A 100-page investigative report prepared for the Washington House of Representatives on one of its members, Rep. Matt Shea, also makes more than twelve references to Idaho state Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard.
Shea’s eastern Washington district in Spokane County abuts Idaho.
The report states that “Shea participated in an act of domestic terrorism against the United States,” reports the Lewiston Tribune.
Washington lawmakers had tasked investigators with finding out if Shea engaged in or promoted political violence; identifying his involvement with groups that promote such violence, and assessing “the level of threat posed by these individuals and groups.”
The four-month probe found that “Shea, as a leader in the Patriot movement, planned, engaged in and promoted” three armed conflicts between 2014 and 2016: in Bunkerville, Nev.; in Priest River, Idaho; and at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, an armed standoff that captured the nation’s attention in January and February 2016.
“It is the professional opinion of the investigators, that on a more probable than not basis, Rep. Shea presents a present and growing threat of risk to others through political violence,” concludes the report, which was made public this week.
Based on the report’s findings, Washington House Minority Leader J.T. Wilcox, R-Yelm, announced Thursday that Shea had been suspended from the caucus and also removed from his House committees.
“Allegations this serious, many supported by (Shea’s) own communications and associates, justify this immediate action,” Wilcox said in a news release.
Scott, who is in her third term in the Idaho Legislature, is referenced by name throughout the report for her involvement at two of those three armed conflicts.
